The Fourth Age
by ooOTeaandCoffeeOoo
Summary: After the reign of Aragorn and his descendants, a war was waged against the few remaining Elves of Middle Earth. For eight hundred years, the Elves were hunted down and killed on sight. Now the Elves remain as little more than a memory soon to be forgotten. Everything belongs to J. R. R. Tolkien. I wouldn't have it any other way. Please rate and review. I will personally respond.
1. Faelwen

_Prologue_

_Throughout the Second Age, War of the Ring, and on into the reign of King Aragorn of Gondor and Arnor, The Elven folk could be seen boarding great ships to head west, to the mysterious Undying Lands to live out the passing ages in peace and tranquility. But not all of the Elves abandoned Middle Earth , there were those who were unwilling to forsake their home, although it was understood that the time of the Elves was coming to an end. The kingdoms of Men were becoming the chief empires of the Fourth Age, the few Elves that remained were content to allow the rise of Men to begin... But there is greed in the hearts of mortals, and ultimately it would spell the end of the time of Elves altogether. The Elves still possessed many a rare and magical artifact, chief among them the lesser rings, and these were kept safe and unused in the heart of their forests and halls. The sons of Men, blinded by greed and overcome with jealousy for the priceless magical items, formed an alliance with the Dwarf peoples to crusade against the remaining Elves. Overpowered ten to one and with no hope of escape, the Elves surrendered, their precious relics were stolen and their cities looted. But, to the utter horror of the Kings of Men, the relics had no power left in them, for with the destruction of the Great Ring came the diminishing of the lesser ring's power as well. Their anger was kindled against the few Elves who had survived the short-lived war, and a mass annihilation was called against the 'deceitful and treacherous' Elves. For the next nine hundred years, a decree was sent forth that any and all Elves were to be killed on sight. This law was happily and zealously obeyed. Sightings of Elves grew more and more uncommon, until they were all but forgotten, except in jest and legend. Their legend grew to be obscure as well, and the Elvish race sank into the darkest depths of history, forgotten by all but a few..._

* * *

The Ranger

A tall oak stood in the forest outside the township of Bree. A Ranger by the name of Faelwen, hooded and cloaked, as was the custom of such folk, sat high in it's branches. The sun was just beginning to sink below the treetops, streaks of pink and orange flashing across the sky in the eerie twilight. The ranger brushed her windblown hair from her face. She leaned back, hidden from sight in the leafy boughs, watching the road with a jealous eye. She was rather tall, by the standard of most, but that was easily credited to being one of the Dunedain of the North. She was strong as well, overall a strong, imposing person, though athletic in figure. This made hiding in trees slightly more difficult, but it was also handy in this line of work. She was nice enough to look at, but didn't seem to take much time on her appearance. She just had much more important things on her mind than looks. Yesterday there had been reports of a robbery; supposedly, the thief escaped by use of this particular road. Faelwen did not intend to let any other perpetrators escape by a similar route.

* * *

A small, thin form wove expertly through the crowded streets, remaining unnoticed in the rabble of men and dwarves. He moved quickly and quietly, slipping through the loud, quarreling crowds with his head down and his eyes on the ground like one wishing to pass unnoticed. The wraithlike figure wore an old black hood, which kept his face and body completely obscured, except for his small, pale hands. He turned a corner and made his way down a narrow alley. When he was out of sight from the main street, he slid down the sooty wall and sat quivering behind a pile of debris, clutching his midsection. He stayed there for a moment, feeling his strength waning. He took a deep breath and rose unsteadily. The gossamer figure made his way to an obscure iron gate; he hesitated, thinking, planning, and then slipped through the wide bars. He ran for the woods outside the city, pausing before the shadowy, ominous woods, he took in a breath and plunged into the darkness.

The ranger lifted her head, listening intently. Footsteps, coming this way. Whoever or whatever it was seemed to be moving very quickly, but it was hard to hear. Almost without her noticing, a dark shadow slipped into view. It was unclear just what that black hood concealed. It was very quiet, and stepped lightly. It was a little too short to be a Man but too tall to be a Dwarf. It seemed afraid, looking over it's shoulder often, and pausing as if to rest before rushing on again. _I don't like this, _Faelwen thought, watching the figure draw closer. _the hood, and the running, and the suspicious attitude, it's more than likely another thief._ It wrapped it's cloak more tightly around itself, shuddering in the cool night air. It was completely unaware of the ranger in the tree, that much was clear. Faelwen drew back her bow, but changed her mind and decided that it would be wiser to question them _before _shooting. She slid along the branch until she was directly over the road, right where the man in question would pass.

The ghostly form paused directly below the ranger, listening for any signs of pursuit. He heard scuffling sound, and looked up just in time to see the ranger jumping out of the tree. He searched frantically for a knife, an arrow, anything to defend himself with, but he wasn't fast enough. The ranger landed squarely on the hapless figure, plowing him facedown into the dirt. She heard a cracking noise coming from the small person and eased off a bit of the pressure, just enough to not injure the character, at least, not yet... "What is your purpose here?" She asked in a low, frightening voice. The poor figure didn't answer, he couldn't, actually, he couldn't breathe either. Faelwen saw the problem and eased off a little more. "What is your purpose here?" She asked, louder. The figure still did not reply. She jerked up the helpless figure and held him against a tree by his throat. "What is your purpose here!" The ranger nearly shouted. The figure didn't reply. The ranger looked down just in time to see that the figure had somehow managed to get ahold of an arrow, and was preparing to try and kill the ranger. She dropped the figure and they slid, startled, down the tree onto the ground. "I see what you have there!" The ranger gloated, gesturing to the arrow.

"NO! I shall die a thousand deaths before it passes through the hands of men again!" He screamed wildly, throwing his whole weight, which was not a lot, against Faelwen, bowling them both over. regaining his footing, he ran for all he was worth deeper into the forest. _what just happened?_ Faelwen thought, bewildered by this unexpected turn of events. She looked at the ground, it was wet with blood. _Now I know I didn't do that!_ but there was no time to think about that now, she had to find that thief, and quick. She took off after the skittish criminal.


	2. Unbelievable Discoveries

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The cloaked man wove between the trees, clutching his midsection, as the ranger followed laboriously behind. He could not see the ranger, nor did he care to. There were black spots in his vision, and he was seeing red. Faelwen could tell the ghostly man was near exhaustion, he breathed heavily and stumbled frequently. Despite his apparent difficulties, he kept running, fighting desperately to get away from the ranger and not stopping regardless of his health.

Faelwen stopped for a moment to watch in awe as the person stumbled, fell, and struggled to regain his footing, only to fall again, and again. Finally, the person was literally crawling away, dragging himself pathetically inch by inch away from his pursuer. Shaking her head, Faelwen took up the chase again as the ghost tried to pull himself up with the aid of a nearby tree.

The figure could hear Faelwen's ominous footsteps beginning to come closer. Faelwen suddenly jumped out from seemingly thin air and tackled the shady figure. The cloaked wraith struggled to become free of the ranger's viselike grip on his thin shoulders. Despite his diminuitive size, the cloaked one was very difficult to control. The man managed to knee the ranger making them both tumble down the slope towards the creek.

A huge splash echoed through the forest. The ranger was the first to surface. She stood and moved her long hair out of her eyes. The cloaked figure was no longer cloaked. He sat in the water, a dazed, stupified expression on his face. The only problem was that this was no ordinary man, but a woman, closer to a girl, really. Not only that, but she was an Elf. Her hood had fallen down, revealing matted blond hair, translucent skin, and vacant, faintly pained grey eyes. Faelwen stared in surprise, dumbfounded. The first thought when the ranger saw her was that it was a normal man with some strange condition. When she saw the pointed ears, she almost didn't believe her eyes. She had never seen an elf before and only heard of them in legends. She still sat, stunned, in the water. Faelwen reached down to help her up or keep her there, or both. The second Faelwen's fingers brushed her shoulder, the Elf reacted violently, shaking out of the dazed stupor and twisting viciously away, getting to her feet faster than should have been possible.

The elf regarded Faelwen with stormy grey eyes narrowed to frightening slits. She quickly put up her hood and ran back into the forest, still soaked from the creek.

"Wait!" Faelwen called, running after her. The elf was sprinting with all that she had, which wasn't much anymore. She was leaving a trail of blood on the ground. The ranger quickly caught up and grabbed her arm. "What are you doing here?!" She asked in a commanding voice with a hint of concern. The elf said nothing, but spit at Faelwen angrily, struggling and twisting like a fish. The ranger pulled out her knife and pointed it threatening at the elf and asked again what an elf was doing here.

"Go ahead! Kill me just like the rest of you filthy mortals did to my kin!" She snarled, somehow managing to be intimidating despite being soaking wet, filthy, ragged, starving, injured, and having a knife at her throat. The Elf again tried to struggle free but her attempt failed, so she stopped struggling, and stood trembling. Her hand held tightly to her stomach, and blood oozed from between her fingers and fell onto Faelwen's boots. For a split second before the Elf blacked out from exhaustion, the fear she actually felt was stark and raw on her face, where seconds before had been only defiance and animalistic viciousness. Faelwen nearly dropped her as she fainted in surprise at that traumatized expression. That true, raw terror she had just seen was unmatched in genuinity. Faelwen stared at her suspiciously, believing the elf was faking the faint. She asked again, "What are you doing here? Speak!" The elf stayed dead in her arms, fingers still tightly wrapped around her stomach. The ranger growled and let go of the limp body. Now would be the perfect chance to kill the last remaining Elf, if she so chose.


	3. One Sided Mercy

Please rate and review. It is much appreciated. We are sorry the first two chapters were short and that it took too long to upload. And, fun fact, Tea and Coffee are two different people, with totally opposite personalities, and you can see that when you review.

Everything belongs to J. R. R. Tolkien, and this is just for fun and to improve our writing skill.

A ranger was supposed to keep the law and protect the free peoples of Middle Earth. The law stated that elves were to be killed on sight. But, she was also one of the Dunedain, a race once extremely close to the elves. Faelwen looked at her knife and the pitiful thing, her expression of sheer terror was still frozen on her face.

This was the first elf the ranger had ever seen and probably the only elf left in Middle Earth. Faelwen stared hard at the crumpled ball of blonde, knotted hair and dusty black fabric and felt a horrible weight of indecision. The elf went from being strangely proud and uncannily defiant to a terrified expression like that of a hunted animal in an instant. The deciding factor that tipped the scales was the elf's unintelligible rambling about 'not letting it pass through the hands of men again.' The elf must be hiding something. Faelwen needed to find out what. She grumbled to herself about 'doing it later' and put the weapon back in her belt, but in her heart she knew she'd never be able to kill it in good conscience.

The ranger bent down and turned the limp bundle over, inspecting it's wounds. The largest wound was a deep, straight gash on the her midsection, just below the ribs, it seemed to have missed most vital organs, but was still bleeding profusely. It appeared to be a stab wound. Faelwen sighed and ran off into the woods, towards the creek. She came back with a can full of water and a handful of oak bark. The elf was still unconscious.

The ranger knelt not too far from the elf and cleared away debris for a fire. She organized the wood and tinder in an almost "tent" like arrangement, with the smaller sticks below and the larger sticks on top. Faelwen pulled out some more dried from her bag and started the fire. When the fire engulfed the whole stack of wood, the ranger lay a light clay bowl, filled with the water from the creek, next to the flames. She sprinkled the pieces of oak bark into the hot water. Next to her on the ground, the elf stirred slightly and groaned, her face subconsciously transforming into an expression of intense agony in her sleep.

The ranger took the brew off the fire and leaned over the faintly stirring elf. Faelwen knelt beside the groaning figure and checked her cloak for any weapons; the ranger withdrew with three knives, five arrows, three throwing knives, and a short sword. This person did not play around. She fished around for a damp cloth as she let the water cool a bit. The elf was moving more now, she soaked the cloth in the water and squeezed it above the injured one's wound. A sharp gasp of pain came from the forlorn figure and shocked her back into the world of the living. Faelwen stood up, brandishing a sword. The elf turned and saw the ranger. Her eyes widened for a millisecond before her face settled back into grim hopeless defiance.

"Well." She quipped mildly. "You are an even more despicable human being than I had originally thought."

"What are you rambling about?" Faelwen asked without interest.

"You didn't even have the common courtesy to kill me while I was out, you had to be sure I would watch as you run me through. That makes you even worse than a normal human."

"I'm not planning to kill you unless you give me cause." Faelwen said.

"So… Torture then. How noble of you."

"I don't plan on torturing you or killing you." The ranger replied. "I simply plan on keeping you alive, for now." She added the last part as kind of a mumble to herself but the elf heard it.

"Right..." She mumbled.

The elf breathed for a moment, willing herself to be able to stand and run away. She braced her back against a tree trunk and pushed with her legs until she was in an awkward crouching position. She grabbed a branch and leaned weakly over it, shaking with fatigue. She took in a deep breath and let go of the branch, taking one or two unsure steps only to promptly fall back where she started. She took a deep breath and tried again, and again, and again. Faelwen watched in amazement as she struggled valiantly to stand, growing weaker by the second until she could only lean against the rough bark, panting with half lidded eyes.

Faelwen pulled some strips of cloth from her bag and leaned over the hapless figure, preparing to wrap the wound. The elf looked sadly into Faelwen's eyes.

"So this is it." She muttered.

"No. I am going to keep you alive." The ranger said vainly.

"Right. It's completely unreasonable for me to think that you would be trying to kill me. How silly of me." She observed drily.

"What is your name?"

"I don't have one." She replied. Faelwen sighed.

"What do people call you?"

"They don't."

"Why were you in Bree land?" Faelwen asked, trying to steer this conversation in the right direction. The elf didn't reply. Faelwen held out the brew she had been making to her, hoping the oak bark might help the pain or keep down the infection. The defiant little firecracker, of course, refused it adamantly.

"Take it!" Faelwen shouted in a commanding voice. The elf rolled her eyes. Faelwen eyed the weak figure. It would be so easy to just pour it down her throat. So she did. She wrenched the elf's jaw open and poured the liquid down, holding her upright so it was either suffocate or swallow. Faelwen was beginning to worry that the elf would chose suffocate, but she eventually did allow her throat to relax. Faelwen released her jaw and the angry, indignant little bundle of bitterness sat coughing and sputtering, trying to hack it up.

"You… little…" She choked out, beet red in fury at the indignity of being manhandled.

"Must you make my job difficult?" The ranger said.

"Of course… I must." Coughed the elf.

Falewen quickly bound up the elf's injury and decided that, since the sun was beginning to go down, she had better find some food. The elf was starving, that was clear. She needed food or she might die from starvation before she died of her wound. The elf still leaned listlessly against the tree, still feebly attempting to move.

"I'm going to catch something to eat." Faelwen told her sternly. "Don't go anywhere." She added, holding in a smile of mirth for the sake of the elf's tattered dignity.

"Don't go anywhere…" The elf muttered. "We'll see about that."

Faelwen came back thirty minutes later to see the elf passed out on the ground, four feet from the tree she started at. Faelwen sighed and propped her back up and turned to prepare the bird she had caught. When she came to once more, Faelwen was ready with food and questions. She held out a piece of meat to the elf, and was not at all surprised when it was adamantly refused.

"Take it!" the ranger ordered. "Just make it easier on yourself for once!"

"You wouldn't dare."

The ranger, again, grabbed her head, yanked it back, and forced the piece of meat into the elf's mouth and held the jaw until she reluctantly swallowed. She coughed weakly, once again scarlet with wounded pride.

"Better?" Faelwen asked without expression.

"Much." She smirked, an evil grin spreading across her face. That smirk clearly showed that she was up to no good. Faelwen braced herself for whatever was about to happen. The elf kicked her with both legs with every ounce of strength she had. Faelwen flew back and the injured person leapt for her knife. Faelwen stood and pulled out her sword just in time to see her pointing a ten inch blade at her sighed, with a hint of amusement. The injured elf was clearly no match for a strong, healthy ranger but she still adamantly refused to back down. Faelwen admired her will to survive, even if she was foolhardy.

"Go ahead! Do it, try and kill me just like all the other humans would!" The elf shouted.

"You know you cannot defeat me yet you still stand to fight. Why take up a hopeless cause?" Faelwen asked. The elf did not reply, she dropped into a defensive crouch, Faelwen sighed and did the same. The elf smiled toothily, looking half crazed. _You want to fight, huh, Ranger? Well, then, let's fight. _she chided silently_. One well armed, healthy, strong trained professional Elf murderer is trying to kill me, and I'm weak, have only one knife, and am injured. I can do this, no problem!_

"The odds are against you. You cannot win." Faelwen repeated.

"Odds and luck have nothing to do with me. I have gotten the worst of both and have survived this long by standing. I sure won't die any differently then I lived, if I can help it."

"Have I not told you? I am not planning to kill you." Faelwen said. "What is your purpose in Bree?"

"Looking vainly for odds and luck."

"And have you found any?"

"Considering I got stabbed before lunch, kidnapped before supper, and am now facing a human blade, no."

"I see. But you are alive. Is that not a good thing?"

"Not sure if I'm enjoying it. Maybe I'd like it more if you let me leave. Also, if you are not going to kill me, why should I be alarmed by the sword you've got there?"

"Because I can change my plans."

"So do it then." She smiled, putting the blade against her own throat and looking at Faelwen smugly. "If you are so brave, so strong and in control of things, then make good on your threat. Do it. I won't even scream."

"Bravery and strength does not come from the taking of a life. And, anyway, what good would it be to kill you?"

"Ah. I see you are new at this." The elf smirked. "You have just lost control of your captive, making vain threats and then saying on no uncertain terms that you will not kill me. Clearly you realize I can now do whatever I want with no fear of death from you. You should thank me for the tip, except, although you may have a sense of morality, and don't want to take my life; I have no such scruples about gutting you like a boar."

"Go on then, prove it." The ranger said and readied herself.

The elf watched her warily, still smiling smugly, eyes flitting from one place to another. Surprise. She needed surprise if she was ever to have a chance at this. She made ready like she was about to go in for the throat, but at the last second turned tail and ran for the trees.

_Of course_. Faelwen thought._ Can't make anything easy..._ She ran after her and caught up fairly easily. She sprang out of the bushes and blocked the elf's path, and quickly unsheathed her sword. She looked up, anticipating her reaction; but she looked into nothing but an empty forest. The elf was gone.

The ranger peered through half shut eyes, narrowed in concentration. She listened for any sounds and looked for traces of her, but the elf was nowhere to be found. Faelwen started walking around, still searching for the skittish fugitive. _She did not run away, I'm sure of that, she does not seem the type to vow your death then run off..._ Faelwen mused. _Where could she have gone?_ She did not have to wonder for long. Suddenly, a small throwing knife embedded itself in the tree right next to Faelwen's head, shattering the flaky bark.

The ranger looked at the knife and pulled it out of the wood with some difficulty. She spun around in the direction where it came from, rearranging her face back into an expression of unconcerned confidence.

"Come out and fight!" The ranger challenged, "Or would you rather keep to the shadows as a coward would?" The only response was a slight rustling in the leaves. Faelwen was about to call out another stinging remark, when the elf dropped out of the tree above the ranger and landed beside her. Her eyes were wide, and she didn't look nearly as confident now.

"Orcs!" She half shouted. "I'll have to finish you off later, scum!"


End file.
